How to Make a Little Purse Cake
This is a tutorial for a small purse cake made from three 6″ round tiers. Each tier is about 3/4″ thick making the final cake about 3″ thick. You can make this from an 8″ round also! I’ve also done a tutorial on the bow, so you can look that up by my user name or under the tutorial section. The purse is covered in fondant and the black piping, bow and handle are modeling chocolate mixed with a little black fondant. Enjoy!
List of Materials
- fondant, smoothers, modeling chocolate, fondant embosser, exacto knife
Stack and fill your cakes. Put them in the fridge to firm up before carving. After it is firm, place it on your cutting board and cut off the bottom edge about an inch up the cake. Cut off the top edge about 1/2″ from the top of the cake. The bottom cut should be bigger than the top.
Stand the cake up and check for levelness. You might have to trim it a bit here and there to make sure it stands straight.
Begin to carve the shape. Start about 1/2″ in from the front side and cut at a diagonal out to the front to create a slant. Do this step again to the back thereby creating a tapered top to the purse.
Create a V-shaped cut out from the sides of the purse to make it look like the fabric has folded inward.
Place the cake on a cake board. Crumb coat the outside with a smooth layer of buttercream or ganache. Place cake into the fridge and let it firm up. Take an exacto knife and cut the board down then patch/smooth the sides of the board with ganache or buttercream.
Knead and roll out your fondant to 1/8″ thick. Use a little cornstarch to keep it from sticking to your board. Spritz your crumb coat with some water and lay your fondant over the cake. Smooth the sides down with a fondant smoother and gather the fondant on the front and back corners.
Take some small sharp scissors and cut the excess fondant from the corners. You want to make sure it’s at the corners because you’ll be placing piping there so you can hide the seams. Smooth down the cut seams with the warmth of your finger.
Take a 4×6 black piece of photo paper and round one of the short edges to create a template for the purse flap. Roll out your fondant and lay the template over it, cut it out, then use the template to lift the cut flap and lay it over your cake. Use the fondant embosser to emboss a stitched design over the edges of the flap.
Roll out your modeling chocolate (or use a clay extruder) in long ropes. Brush the corners of your cake with a little water and apply the chocolate ropes along all the edges to create a piping effect.
Use your modeling chocolate to create a simple bow (Check out my bow tutorial on CC).
For the handle: Roll out a thicker rope of modeling chocolate and wrap it around a glass to get a circular shape. Cut the bottom edges nice and straight so when you sit it up, it sits flat on the purse. Let it sit up overnight. After it’s hardened, use a little melted chocolate to adhere the handle and bow to the purse!
And, you’re done! 
Thanks for looking!
Thank you for this. Great tutorial for a pretty cake.
Thank you.... I love when people share there talent...
THANKS SO MUCH FOR SHARING! HOPE YOU SHARE MORE!!! LOVE TO LEARN!!!
This is simple and elegant. Thank you for sharing.
This tutorial is brilliant!! Thank you!!
Wow! Love this, can't wait to give it a go. Just curious about the color, did you air brush it on? What color of blue is this? Thanks so much for being so generous in sharing your wonderful talent, it is appreciated!
Lyndi
Another wonderful tutorial!! I mastered the bows, now on to the purse cake!! Thanks again for taking the time to put this together!!
Thank you sooooo much for sharing!!!
It was great .A tutorial made simple.
Adorable..but when did you tint the fondant blue? Also, is the piping on the flap held on with water? I am a bit worried that the water might stain the fondant in the process of trying to stick it on the flap...had that happen before...I use rubber tubing found at Home Depot for my handle...wrap the chocolate around the tubing and insert dowels in the ends and the handle stays beautifully poked in the cake...
Wonderful ... thank you so much.
Thank you! : ) Can't wait to try this.
This was very helpful, thanks.
Congratulation! You explain perfect and clearly how to make this purse. Thanks for sharing with us.
Thank you so much! Awesome tutorial. Gonna try this soon.
Thank you X 3.... Cant wait to try it for someones birthday. God bless you for sharing your talents.
Awesome tutorial. You made it seem so easy!
Thanks for sharing, but does the filling stay in place while being upright?
Thanks for a super tutorial - really helpful and surprisingly simple...
Thank you very much for sharing.
thank you so much I am still learning and love trying new things
THANK YOU for sharing your talent! LOVE learning new stuff!
WOW! SO SIMPLE! THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH! GOTTA TRY ONE OF THESE! GOD BLESS YOU!
Thank you so much for sharing.
Hi, thanks so much for this tutorial, cant wait to try it out.
Great tutorial...your instructions are clear and concise!
Hi, Thanks for the tutorial. I am excited to try to make this.
Can't wait to try it!
thank you for sharing... brilliant............
Just simple and fine.Thanks so much.The bird is a good finishing,was it done with cutter?Permission to try this in my next birthday cake?
thanks for sharing! i'm a newbie when it comes to cake decorating but don't want to spend thousands to go to a school to learn. these tutorials are great, especially with the picitures.
i'll be trying to make this one soon since my friend loves purses! thanks!
Beautiful....
LOVE IT <3
Thanks for sharing your talent, can't wait to try my first purse cake.
I have never carved a cake and am not sure I would be any good at it... but this is so pretty x
FJob well done ....thanks for sharing dis idea...muahaa!
Wow. This is one of the cleanest looking cakes I've ever seen! Thank you for sharing.
Thank you will attempt in November for a b''cake Thank youxxx
Thank you so much for posting this tutorial. I have a request for a purse cake and I was so worried. But having this gives me confidence that I can pull it off. Thank you!!!!!
Hi. I made a larger version using your tutorial. Would definitely recommend inserting dowels. My cake collapsed due to the cake being on its side after layered, the layers gave way. Probably make a higher cake in future and carve rather than turning the cake on its side when layered.